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AFL Trade Wrap Day 6: Jesse Hogan, Tom Scully, Ryan Burton and more

Expert
12th October, 2018
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Expert
12th October, 2018
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As the first week of the 2018 AFL trade period draws to a close the futures of several star AFL players remain unclear, none more so than that of Jesse Hogan.

Late on Friday afternoon Fremantle’s head of football Peter Bell announced that the Dockers had decided not to continue their pursuit of Hogan.

“We have been undertaking a due diligence process as part of a possible trade to secure Jesse Hogan,” said Bell.

“As part of that process, we have had discussions with Jesse, the player’s management and Melbourne.

“While discussions were proceeding it became clear that what Melbourne would be seeking for a trade would not be possible for our club to meet.

“As such, we have informed Melbourne and Jesse’s management that we will not be continuing further with the due diligence process.”

Peter Bell

(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images)

This followed a confirmation from Melbourne’s football boss Josh Mahoney earlier in the day that Hogan had requested a trade to the Dockers.

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“Basically, if Fremantle want to get Jesse Hogan, they know the deal they have to give for us and Jesse’s aware of that,” said Mahoney.

It’s clear that the two clubs are at an impasse but most of the talk from those in the know is that this is far from being a dead deal.

Most of the speculation in the media is that this is just a rather public bluff from Fremantle, in the hopes the Melbourne will lower their asking price.

What exactly is that asking price? While it was originally reported that Melbourne wanted two first-round picks from the Dockers, the most recent news is that they’re asking for less than that.

The Demons would reportedly be happy to accept a combination of picks 5 and 23 from Fremantle in exchange for Hogan, with pick 5 to be procured via the trade of Lachie Neale to Brisbane.

This is where things get complicated as Fremantle have made it abundantly clear that they don’t want to engage in a trade for Neale, while Neale reportedly told the Dockers today that he has played his last game for them.

Perhaps if Brisbane and Fremantle are able to come to an arrangement it could set off a quick-fire succession of big-name trades.

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Melbourne’s ability to broker a trade for Gold Coast’s Steven May could indeed hang in the balance.

The other consideration is how the Hogan camp will react to this move. While the bluff could land Fremantle the deal they want, it also comes at the risk of alienating Hogan.

Murky waters indeed, and all that can be said for sure is that there’s a lot left to play out here, but I’d be very surprised if this turns out to be the last we hear of a Jesse Hogan trade.

Jesse Hogan

(Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

Also making headlines on Friday was confirmation of something that has been quietly rumoured for a while now: Tom Scully would like to come home to Victoria.

From reports early this morning, what seems most likely is that Scully will make his way to Hawthorn, and the Hawks won’t have to give up too much at the trade table.

There are believed to be ongoing concerns about the ankle Scully injured during the year and GWS are more concerned with finding a club that can take his salary on than one with a lot of trade currency.

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However it was also reported later in the afternoon that St Kilda had met with Scully and his management to discuss the potential of him joining the Saints.

Scully’s management reportedly informed St Kilda that Scully preferred to go to a club closer to a premiership, with a few potential destinations on his wishlist.

All in all it’s believed that Scully, the Giants and Hawks are all happy to get the deal done, so it seems likely that will happen.

Of course the big question is whether or not this has any impact on Hawthorn’s pursuit of Chad Wingard and the likely impending departure of Ryan Burton.

It was reported today that Port Adelaide staffers have flown to the USA where Burton is on holiday to conduct a medical, giving an insight into just how much of a twist this has been for Burton.

The 21-year-old is said to be ‘shattered’ at Hawthorn’s willingness to trade him and it’s still not clear how this deal will play out.

Ryan Burton

(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

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Four trades were completed on Friday with the biggest being the arrival of Dan Hannebery at the St Kilda Saints.

Sydney traded Hannebery and pick 28 in this year’s draft to the Saints for pick 39 and St Kilda’s 2019 second-rounder.

It appears to be a great value get for the Saints – they’ve paid less at the trade table for a three-time All Australian and premiership player than they did for Nathan Freeman.

If Hannebery is able to stay on the park, play quality football and provide leadership and mentoring during his five-year contract at the club, he’ll have been a bargain.

Will Setterfield officially moved from the GWS Giants to Carlton, becoming the eleventh former GWS player the Giants have welcomed onto their list.

Carlton sent their 2019 second-round pick and pick 43 to the Giants, receiving Setterfield and pick 71 in return.

Braydon Preuss got his wish for a trade to Melbourne, being packaged up along with pick 62 and Dom Tyson coming to North Melbourne in return.

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The Dees also traded Dean Kent to St Kilda in exchange for pick 65.

The free agency window also officially came to a close at the end of the day, with no more movements made on that front.

That means the likes of Daniel Menzel, Taylor Duryea, Jordan Roughead and George Horlin-Smith will now all have to move clubs either via trade or delisted free agency if they are to find new homes.

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